BATMAN (Bruce Wayne)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Golden Age)

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Bruce Wayne
Occupation: Multimillionaire Playboy, Gotham City Police Commissioner
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Widowed
Known Relatives: Thomas Wayne (father; deceased); Martha Wayne (mother; deceased), Philip Wayne (uncle; deceased), Selina Kyle Wayne (wife; deceased), Helena Wayne (daughter; deceased), Karl Kyle (brother-in-law)
Base of Operation: Gotham City
Group Affiliation(s): Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
Creators: Bob Kane and Bill Finger

HISTORY

Born to a life of wealth and leisure, young Bruce Wayne was walking home from an evening at the theater with his parents when the three found themselves confronted by a gun-wielding hoodlum named Joe Chill. The young thug demanded the diamond necklace Martha Wayne was wearing, and when Dr. Thomas Wayne refused to surrender it, Joe Chill shot him to death in cold blood. The shock of seeing her husband murdered was too much for Martha Wayne's weak heart and she suffered a fatal heart attack, leaving Bruce an orphan.

Bruce was placed under the guardianship of his Uncle Phillip, who raised the boy to adulthood. Traumatized by his parents' death, Bruce swore at their graveside to avenge their murder by waging war on all criminals. To this end, Bruce devoted his formative years to developing his mind and body to unparalleled perfection. After coming into his inheritance, Wayne moved back into the family home, Wayne Manor, to decide how to fulfill his graveside vow. One evening, while pondering in the Manor study, Wayne witnessed a large black bat flying in through the open window. Taking the act as an omen, Wayne decided to become a creature of the night, black, terrible, a figure to strike fear in the hearts of evildoers everywhere. Thus was born the Batman.

At first the Gotham City Police, led by Commissioner James W. Gordon, thought the Caped Crusader a criminal himself and sought to apprehend him, but the Batman ultimately came to terms with Gordon and received unique status with the police. In his first few cases the Batman carried a gun, but soon gave it up. Several years later Wayne assumed the guardianship of a young acrobat, Dick Grayson, who had watched his parents, the Flying Graysons, plunge to their death from the high trapeze as a result of criminal activity. Wayne sensed a kindred spirit in the boy and, after an intense training period, took young Dick on as his partner. Designing a costume based on his childhood hero, Robin Hood, Dick Grayson became Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Over the years the Batman fought bizarre criminals of all types and also served as a charter member of the Justice Society of America, and of the All-Star Squadron. As Bruce Wayne, he maintained his playboy image until the late 1950s, when he fell in love with, and ultimately married, a reformed Selina Kyle after she forswore her criminal career as the Catwoman. Feeling he'd grown too old for day-to-day fighting in the streets as the Batman, Wayne put his Caped Crusader guise into semi-retirement, assuming the mantle of Gotham City Police Commissioner upon James Gordon's retirement.

Bruce and Selina had one daughter, Helena, who became the crime-busting Huntress after her mother's death at the hands of a former criminal colleague. Wayne gave up being the Batman entirely at this point, due to grief and an unjustified feeling that he was partially responsible for Selina's death. A year after the debut of the Huntress, Bruce Wayne donned his Batman uniform for one final mission with the Justice Society, and laid down his life to save Gotham from a super-powered criminal.

Text taken from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory to the DC Universe

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Batman had Olympic level athletic ability and a keen deductive mind. He created an arsenal of Bat-themed items such as the famed Batcave, and Batmobile as well as lesser known items such as the Flying Bat-Cave.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Batman in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #2 (April 1985)